The Pushkin Project : : Russia's Favorite Writer, Modern Evolutionary Thought, and Teaching Inner-City Youth / / David Bethea.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Academic Studies Press Complete eBook-Package 2023
• VerfasserIn: Bethea, David,
• Place / Publishing House: Boston, MA : : Academic Studies Press, , [2023]; ©2023
• Year of Publication: 2023
• Language: English
• Series: Evolution, Cognition, and the Arts
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (260 p.)

“Bethea’s book conveys the story of an amazingly ambitious attempt to preserve the humanities while also saving the future of disadvantaged high school students in Chicago. … Highly recommended.” - Library Journal (starred review)The Pushkin Project tells the story of how a Russian studies professor changes course late in his career by reeducating himself in evolutionary thought and founding a summer institute that partners with inner-city high schools to implement a new set of learning strategies for underserved youth.These “cognitive cross-training” strategies involve introducing students from Hispanic and Black neighborhoods in the west and south sides of Chicago to the Russian culture and language, with an emphasis on poet, playwright, and novelist Alexander Pushkin. Through the lens of modern evolutionary thought, students adopt not only a new and different language and culture, but also a different sort of literary hero, one whose African heritage within the majority culture speaks to them directly. This inspiring and compelling story provides fascinating insights into Russia's national poet, brings the sciences and humanities together, and provides new directions in teaching young people from historically disadvantaged backgrounds.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Acknowledgments -- Contents -- Preface -- 1. Origins -- 2. PSI: Implementation -- 3. “The Shot”: Role-Playing with Loaded Pistols -- 4. “The Stationmaster”: Morality Meets Sexual Selection -- 5. The Blackamoor of Peter the Great: Identity, Creativity, Homecoming -- 6. “The Queen of Spades”: Risk, Reward, Gaming Life -- Afterword: The Students Respond -- Appendix: The PSI Questionnaire -- Notes -- Works Cited -- Index